Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

430 reviews

dhanon's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child abuse and Confinement

Minor: Violence

ellic23's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

taylorfield's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Long Story Short: Alix Summers, a popular podcaster, discovers the subject of her next series when she meets Josie Fair and the two realize they share the same birthday. As Josie's story unfolds, Alix finds her family intertwined in the unbelievable.

First things first: this is a very good audiobook. It's a full-fledged production with normal narration, "podcast" material, and "Netflix" excerpts that are engaging and different and fun. None of This Is True would be very good for discussions on boundary setting, the nature of podcasts in storytelling, and the impact of Covid-19.

Ultimately though, it's a slow burn story with an ending that feels like something is missing. At 34% I had an idea of what happened, but in reality the twist was not very twisty and didn't make a lot of sense. I've been a broken record of "I wish the ending wasn't so rushed" this year but man, I wish the ending wasn't so rushed.

CW: Descriptions of grooming, allusions to child sexual abuse, alcoholism

Enjoyment: 4/5
Craft: 3/5
Overall: 3.5/5 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse

avalon's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Me the first 95% of the book: okay that was pretty predictable

Me the final 5%: oh. Maybe i should have listened to the title

Seriously though the ending was pretty strong in my opinion, though it can be considered a sort of copout for any plotholes I still enjoyed it. Was it a perfect mystery? Not by any means. Was it fun? Absolutely!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

bridgetmckernan's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Sped through this book. It was unsettling and a little ridiculous which made it a fun thriller to read. 

I liked the alternating points of view, but couldn’t stand them being delivered in the form of a podcast turned Netflix series. This may land better as an audiobook. Or an actual Netflix series.

Found myself skimming parts to get to the end but,

enjoyed the ambiguity of the ending that allows readers to decide what they believe from all the details provided. I have my conclusion.

A good one for book club. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Murder

mairi99's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

cmbrown4's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism

suchallie's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This was a quick and easy read, it was easy to get into and it really picked up on the last half of the book. I think the concept and structure are fairly novel and they work here, however I wasn’t a fan of the theme of gaslighting victims of abuse (regardless whether the abuse in the plot was true in the universe or not this isn’t necessarily a narrative we need to be pushing). Also the fact that Walter is deemed as imperfect and not villainous by the end despite being an actual pedophile and just all around creep is pretty nuts. Sorry, but I don’t care if he is a good dad, he’s still a pedophile?? I would have liked a spicier ending as well with Josie. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, and Injury/Injury detail

bookwitch's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This whole book was just un-comfy. I don't really love Lisa Jewell's style (this is my third book by her) but it does go by relatively quickly. As with many of these types of books, nobody really has clean hands by the end.

Do I think Josie did everything she was blamed for? No, but she definitely isn't innocent either. What I would really actually like to know, is whose phone case was left behind. I left this feeling like Katelyn was super suspicious as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Kidnapping

alexandrajade444's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic